Blurry
by redKardinal
Summary: A new sparrow man arrives at pixie hollow. (An origin story for Phineas T. "Bobble" Kettletree)
1. New Life

As the seasons changed from summer to fall, a mother cradled her baby boy. She whispered to him stories of creatures coming to bring cooler weather and beautiful shades of amber to the leaves. She spoke of how these creatures would gather food for the animals, bring the wind to blow the leaves down, and the boy loved the stories. He smiled a wide, toothless grin, and let out a giggle. His first laugh. His mother smiled.

"I believe another of these creatures may have just been born."

The boy's laugh drifted outside and broke apart in the wind. Each piece drifted off to the ground. Each peace, save one. This one piece drifted with the wind and followed what felt like a call.

The journey was long. Not all make it and stay on the mainland, but this one needed to make the trip. It passed the second star, and drifted to the place it would call home. Its arrival caught the attention of those who lived there, and they all gathered at the Tree as a Fast Flier guided the new one there. It passed through a trickle of golden Dust and landed on the platform everyone gathered around. A large Dust Keeper in a kilt flew overhead and poured a cup of Dust over the new arrival who then drew his first real breath as he awoke.

He heard whispers around him, but he stayed knelt on the ground with his head down. "He's so lanky." He heard some say. "Definitely a Fast Flier" said others "At his size, he'd be a shoe in."

He finally raised his head as the whispers grew louder, announcing the arrival of the queen. He blinked a few times as the bright golden glow drew closer.

"Where am I?" he asked quietly.

"You're in Pixie Hollow, young Sparrowman. The joy of new life has brought you here. Welcome." The glow said sweetly. There was a pause as the new arrival stared at the glow. "Hold out your hand" she said in an understanding voice.

He raised his hand and the glow reached out and took it, helping the young fairy to his feet. "I hope your journey wasn't too hard." She said. "Let's see about your wings."

As she raised her hands over his wing, he felt them come to life in a wave of warmth. He hovered off the ground and flew a bit to test them out, then came back down to the platform, stumbling as he landed.

"A bit of a bumpy landing," The queen laughed, "but you'll be just fine." Then the Dust began to swirl on the platform as mushroom pedestals sprouted in a circle. He noticed fairies place objects on the closest pedestals, and he turned to the queen with a look of curiosity.

"Step forward," she said "And find your talent."

He nodded and went to the closest object, a small egg. He reached for it, and the glow disappeared as it dropped to the now dim pedestal. Frowning, he moved to the next object, holding onto the now dim mushroom as he moved on. He went in a circle, examining each object very closely. All five objects he passed did not choose him. He kept his hands on each spot he passed until he reached the sixth object. It was a hammer. He tilted his head to the side, looking at it. He grinned as he reached for it, and it began to glow and float toward him, shining brighter and brighter until it landed in his hands. This had to be it, he thought as he grasped it. The hammer shined brightly and he could hear the awe of the spectators.

He grinned and turned back to the queen. She came to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tinker fairies, step forward and greet the newest member of your Talent Guild. Phineas."

That wasn't his full name, but he wondered how the queen knew it at all. It occurred to him that he in fact did not know his own name until the hammer chose him. Maybe his name went with his talent? Maybe it was part of the queen's job to know every fairy by name the moment they had one.

"Hello dear!" came a sweet, motherly voice behind him. He turned to see a plump green blur. "I'm Fairy Mary, and I'm just pleast as poppies you're here. Come on now, I've sent the other Tinkers to get your home ready. Now let's show you around. There's so much to see! Come on now." She hovered off the ground and began to fly away, expecting him to follow.

"Fairy Mary!" Phineas called after her. "Wait!"

"What's the matter dear?" she flittered back close to him.

"I…" he hesitated "I can't see that well. I need to hold on to you."

There was a sudden quiet among the surrounding fairies "Oh." Fairy Mary said, "Well alright, dear. Let's get going." She took him by the hand and led him off, leaving the whispers and murmurs behind them. She brought him above the Tree and began to introduce him to the seasons of Pixie Hollow.

They were over Summer Glade and Fairy Mary asked "Just how well can you see, Phineas?"

"Not well." He replied. "Everything's just a blur. It all looks like a bunch of color to me."

"That's basically all the seasons are." Fairy Mary joked "Are things clearer up close?"

"Aye!" he replied. "That's why I was looking so close at all the talents." He held his free hand in front of his face. "This is where it looks clear." He said, and took his other hand from Fairy Mary and put it between his face and first hand. It fit neatly between his nose and hand. "So about the width of my hand." He said "That's how far away I can see."

"Hmm." Fairy Mary pondered. "Well then we'll have to do something about that." She took his hand again and pulled him along. "Until then, I suppose you'll just have to do close up work."

Fairy Mary showed him the four seasons to the best of her ability, allowing him to stop and get a closer look when he wanted. He was particularly fond of Spring time, but it would be a while yet before it was time to prepare for Spring, since the fairies had just returned from bringing Autumn to the mainland.

They landed in a busy area with more fairies clad in green running about. With her hand on his shoulder, Fairy Mary guided him through the busy work area. "Welcome to Tinker's Nook, Phineas" she said. Many fairies said hello and waved to him. He squinted, smiled, and waved back. Fairy Mary led him up to the roots of a large tree where a door was fitted.

"Here we are." She said, opening the door for him. "You'll have everything you need here. You're a bit thinner than most Tinker Fairies, so I'm afraid we don't have any work clothes your size."

Phineas looked closely at everything. "This is perfect." He said "What should I do now?"

"Go ahead and get dressed for work." Fairy Mary replied. "Then come meet me in the workshop." With that, she left and Phineas began to explore his new living quarters. IT was pretty roomy for him. He wondered if the other houses were the same size. He had been smaller than the other Tinkers he'd gotten a good look at. Maybe this house just felt big because he was so small.

He began sifting through the drawers, which held all sorts of different tools. He grabbed out a small hammer and some scissors, then made his way to the closet. He tried on some of the clothes hanging inside, and as Fairy Mary said: they didn't fit. They were too large for his skinny body. He grabbed the scissors and got to work.

Soon he had crafted himself an outfit. It was a little patchy, but it would do for now. He tied a rope around his waist and slipped some tools under it and headed down to the work shop.

It was harder for him to get around without Fairy Mary. Each fuzzy shape he saw, he had a hard time determining if it was moving closer, moving away or if it was stationary. He bumped into a number of fairies, but managed to get to Fairy Mary's workshop.

"Phineas!" he heard her call and turned toward her voice. "Come here. You'll be working with Lucinda today." She said, gesturing to the lady Tinker standing by her.

"Pleased to meet you." Phineas said, Lucinda shook his hand.

"Alright, Lucinda, get Phineas acquainted with the workshop. I'll be back to check on you later. No goofing off." She said sternly, then left and started ordering other Tinkers around.

"So you're the new guy." Lucinda said with a smile. "Lets get to work." She showed him how to make acorn tea kettles and more than once told him to step back, because he would get hurt by being so close. When he explained he couldn't see well enough at a distance she switched him to weaving baskets. 'less parts flying about' she'd claimed. And Phineas was left to weave baskets.


	2. Through a Drop

That was how it went the first few weeks. Phineas weaved several baskets, and was very good at it, but he was getting tired of doing the same thing every day. He had been told that basket weaving would be extremely useful for winter preparation, but he wanted to do something different, and decided that it would be best to talk to Fairy Mary about it. He found her in the back of the workshop one morning.

"Fairy Mary?"

"Yes, Phineas? What can I do for you?" she asked, not looking up from her work.

"I was wondering if I could make something other than baskets today." He explained.

She looked at him curiously. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I'm certain I could make all of the seasonal supplies if I were allowed. It's just my sight that's the problem. I'd like to make something to help me see in my workspace." He said, he was about to ask if she had any ideas what he could use to make such a device, but was cut off by her gasping

"Oh my goodness! How did I manage to forget about that?" she quickly left her workspace and grabbed Phineas by the hand "Come on. There's someone you need to meet."

"Whoa!" Phineas was suddenly being pulled along by Fairy Mary away from Tinker's nook. She brought him to the creek where he could see pale blue figures gliding on the water. One of them noticed their arrival and glided over to them. She got close enough for Phineas to recognize that she had long black hair.

"Hi Fairy Mary!" She greeted. "You never came back last week."

"Sorry about that." Fairy Mary replied. "You know how busy we get. Time got away from me."

"That's alright." She replied with a laugh. She turned to Phineas. "You must be the new guy. Phineas, right?"

"Aye, that's right." He answered.

"Silvermist." She said, giving a tiny curtsey.

"I'll leave you to it then." Fairy Mary said. "I'll see you back at the workshop." She flew off in the direction of Tinker's Nook.

Silvermist waved her off and turned back to Phineas. "So. Shall we get started?"

"I'll be honest." Phineas said, running a hand through his hair and grinning sheepishly, "I have no idea what's going on."

"We're going to use water to help you see better." She explained. She reached into the creek and picked up a large drop of water from it. She held it up in front of Phineas. "Go ahead. Take a look."

He hesitantly peered through the water drop. He let out a gasp. Things looked much sharper through the water. He could see the Rocks, the lilly pads, even the ripples in the creek. He stared at all of it with amazement. He'd never seen anything this clearly before. "Whoa!" he cried when Silvermist's face appeared in the drop.

She let out a laugh, making Phineas blush. "So I guess it works." She said, smiling.

"Aye, it does." He said, smiling wide "Thank you, Miss Silvermist. Now how am I going to make this work at the workshop?" He took a step back and pondered for a moment. "I think I've got it. Mind giving me a hand?" he started grabbing nearby twigs and blades of grass.

Silvermist set down the water drop and helped Phineas. She held the twigs as he tied them together, and wondered what in the world he was doing. He made two identical pieces that stood straight up from the ground. He made a few adjustments on his own as she watched.

"Alright." He said, standing up. "Now I need the water drop." Silvermist nodded and got a new drop of water, the same size and held it for him. He took a long blade of grass and wrapped it around the drop, and with Silvermist's help, attached it to the two posts he had made. He adjusted a few more things and Silvermist watched. He took one last look through the drop and stepped back.

"Perfect!" he said. "This will work just fine."

"Wow," Silvermist said, amazed "You're such a clever Tinker."

"Thank you," he said, blushing again. "Could you help me bring this back to the workshop? I'm afraid I don't know how to get back on my own."

"Of course," Silvermist replied. Picking up one of the posts. Phineas grabbed the other and they carried it back to Tinker's Nook. Phineas watched the ground through the water, enjoying being able to see the ground clearly for the first time. Silvermist smiled at seeing Phineas so pleased, realizing it must have been hard having such weak vision.

They made it back to the workshop and set up Phineas' creation. He looked through the drop once more and made a few final adjustments. When he was finished, he stepped back and turned to Silvermist.

"Thank you so much, Miss Silvermist." He said, holding his hand out to her.

She decided to hug him instead. "You're welcome." She said and let him go. "Oh! If you ever need more water, come and find me, and I'll fix you up."

After his visit with Silvermist, things got steadily easier for Phineas. He was able to do more of the crafting tasks, though was sometimes still slower than the other Tinkers. He often had to maneuver around his lens to make certain attachments, and he couldn't bring it with him to go get the supplies he worked with. That was a bit of a struggle. Sometimes when he got his supplies, they were far away from his work station and he often stumbled or bumped into tables or other fairies on his way back to his area.

Fairy Mary was patient with him though. She had taken quite a liking to him and saw a lot of promise in him despite his disability. She spent more time with him at his station than any other Tinker. She would show him the precise way to tweak different, more challenging crafts, and had even begun to teach him how to build and repair the delivery wagons.

"It's best to get a head start on this." She explained. "We'll be making a lot of deliveries for Spring time before we know it. Oh! Use a seven gage twig for the axel."

"Aye, Fairy Mary. Will do." He said, correcting himself. "But shouldn't we be preparing for Winter? Aren't there a lot of preparations to do for that?"

"We'll begin working on Snowflake baskets in two days." Fairy Mary replied. "From there, the snowy owls will come and take the baskets to the Winter Woods."

"Is that all we do?" Phineas asked.

"Yes," She answered "Winter isn't warm fairy work. It's too dangerous for us." She helped him lift the body of the cart onto the frame.

"So why do we start Spring preparations before we make the snowflake baskets?" Phineas asked.

They fastned the body of the wagon down, and began checking over their work. Phineas was very good at spotting small errors when he got up close to their craftsmanship.

"Well," Fairy Mary started "Spring is probably the most important of all the seasons. It's when new life begins and the cold fades away. The flowers start blooming and everything begins anew."

Phineas smiled wistfully. He couldn't wait for Spring. It sounded better every time he heard about it. "That sounds incredible."

"It most certainly is. Hand me that hammer, would you?"

He gave her the hammer and she began tapping on the axel. "I'm going to head back to my station and work on the pollen pods."

"Alright, go on." Fairy Mary said without looking up.

He began making his way back to his station, keeping his hand on a wall or table to guide him. He noticed whoever he was next to would stop working as he passed, then would hear them begin again as soon as he was gone. He curiously glanced back at the Tinker he'd just passed, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

He turned back around and crashed into one of the other workers, knocking their supplies from his hands.

"I'm so sorry!" Phineas exclaimed. "Let me help you with that!"

"I've got it." The Tinker said with a gruff, frustrated voice. "Get back to your station."

"No, please, let me help. IT was my mistake."

"Phineas! Go back to your station, okay? I don't need your help!" the worker snapped.

Phineas shrunk back a bit. "O-okay." He stammered and flittered past, bumping another table as he went. He caught the basket he'd knocked over before it fell and continued back to his station while two other Tinkers helped the worker he'd bumped into.

"It was only an accident…" he said quietly to himself. He ended up staying late in the workshop that night. He didn't see Fairy Mary since he had helped her with the wagon. He considered telling her about what had happened. He'd never been yelled at by any of the workers before. It wasn't like he'd done it on purpose. And he'd offered to help clean up. Maybe that Tinker was just having a bad day. Phineas decided that must have been the case and focused on making pollen pods.


	3. Winter Supplies

Two days later, they were crafting snowflake baskets for the winter fairies. Phineas didn't have his lens for this. He didn't need it, since all he'd done for his first five weeks was weave baskets. He could do it in his sleep if he needed to. He was both quick and careful with his weaving. Inside, outside, inside, outside. It was ridiculously simple, and the easiest thing he could do without sight.

The incident from the other day had been forgotten, and everyone steadily worked on the Winter preparations. "Ready for the handle!" Phineas called out, jumping off his basket to head to the next one. Two Tinkers brought the handle and started fastening it. Phineas thought he heard them say something, but they weren't talking to him, so he ignored it and moved to the new basket.

After about thirty minutes, he finished the basket and Fairy Mary called him over. "Phineas, dear, could you go with Lucinda to get more weaving supplied from the garden fairies?"

"Yes, Fairy Mary." He said. He headed over to the wagons wagons where Lucinda was hitching a mouse to the wagon he and Fairy Mary had built the other day. He climbed up into the seat. Lucinda climbed up next to him and took the reins with a yawn. Phineas found it strange that he was being sent on a supply pickup. He hadn't gone on one yet since he'd arrived. Lucinda flicked the reins and they were off. They were quiet for most of the ride, but Lucinda spoke up suddenly.

"Something on your mind?" she asked

"I don't usually go on supply runs." He said. "I don't know my way around. Everything looks the same."

"That's why I'm here." Lucinda said "It was your turn to go, and I volunteered to go with you."

Phineas smirked and looked ahead. Lucinda had been looking for an excuse to get out of working all morning. She was pretty laid back for a Tinker, but Phineas had no problem with her. She was after all the first worker he'd met.

"Have you met any of the Garden Fairies yet?" Lucinda asked.

"Afraid not." Phineas shrugged. "The only fairy I've met outside our guild is Silvermist."

"Well you'll like the Garden Fairies. They're probably the sweetest people you'll meet in Pixie Hollow."

They pulled into a clearing and hopped out of the wagon. Lucinda waved to a Pixie in pink and headed her direction, with Phineas not far behind.

"Hey there Lucinda!" the Garden Fairy said with a southern drawl. "Need another pickup already?"

"Sure do," She replied. "Fairy Mary needs fifty more bundles this time."

The Garden Fairy seemed surprised. "Good heavens! It'll take a while to grow that much. Why'd she order so much?"

Phineas didn't hear Lucinda's answer, but the Garden Fairy suddenly took notice of him.

"Well hello!" she greeted sweetly, and oddly slowly. "It's a pleasure to meet you!" Why was she emphasizing each syllable, Phineas wondered. "I am Rosetta."

"Rosetta, he's blind. Not deaf." Lucinda said.

Oh. Phineas' spirits fell a bit. "I'm not blind either." He said. "Just can't see well."

"Oh, I know honey. I don't know what came over me. Let me start over. Hi, I'm Rosetta."

Phineas was glad she was speaking to him normally "Phineas," he said and shook her hand.

"I was wondering when I'd get to meet you. How long have you been in Pixie Hollow now?" Rosetta asked.

"About two months." Phineas said

"Two months!" Rosetta repeated. "What took you so long to come and meet me?"

"Well, this is my first supply pickup. Finally my turn I suppose." Phineas shrugged.

"Strange." Rosetta pondered "I've seen the other Tinkers tice each since you've been here."

"Hey!" Lucinda ran over before Phineas could comment on what Rosetta said. "How about we get going with that order? Fairy Mary won't want us to dilly dally."

"Okay! Okay! I'll get right on it!" Rosetta huffed. She called to the nearby Garden Fairies and they got to work on growing and cutting the grass for the baskets. They tied bundle after bundle, and Phineas kept track of how many were on the wagon. Lucinda lounged in the seat of the wagon. After about an hour, they were ready to get going.

"Come back and visit any time, hon!" Rosetta called after Phineas, who smiled in return and waved farewell.

The mouse was having a hard time baring the load, so their trek back was significantly slower. Lucinda and Phineas were quiet most of the way, but something was eating at him.

"Lucinda," he finally said. She glanced his way as he spoke. "Is there a reason why I was sent on this supply pickup?"

Lucinda hesitated. "I told you before, Phineas, it was your turn."

"Aye, you said that." He stared ahead, feeling like it wasn't the whole truth. "Is Fairy Mary keeping something from me?"

"You'll have to ask her that yourself." Lucinda said quickly. They pulled back into Tinker's Nook and began unloading the supplies. When the other workers noticed they'd returned, they quickly took over and told the two of them to get back to making baskets. Lucinda slipped away, probably to find somewhere to avoid working, and Phineas returned to where he had been weaving before.

He tried to find Fairy Mary after the work day had ended and the snowy owls had picked up that day's collection of baskets. HE didn't find her in the workshop, so he tried her home.

He knocked a few times, and waited. There was no response. He knocked again. "Fairy Mary? Are you home?" she didn't answer so he knocked again. "Fairy Mary, I'd like to talk to you!" he was practically shouting.

"Hey!" someone shoulted from behind. "She's not in right now! Go home!" He sounded like the worker he'd bumped into the other day.

"Do you know when she'll be home?" Phineas shouted back.

"No, but I'll be sure to tell her you stopped by!" the other Tinker yelled. "Get home before it gets too dark!"

He hesitated slightly as he stared in the direction of the other Tinker's voice, but complied to his suggestion and headed home. He spent hours tinkering on a few ideas he'd had that day, just trying to stay awake in case Fairy Mary came to talk to him. He ended up falling asleep at his craft table and had a sore neck and shoulders the next day.


	4. Dozer

Phineas didn't have a chance to speak to Fairy Mary over the next few days either. The other workers seemed to be giving him more space than usual, and he heard less of the mumbling he'd gotten so used to over the last two months.

Winter preparations were completed by the time Phineas got to speak to Fairy Mary. It was a slower day for him, and he'd gotten his crafting done early. Normally now he would go find Silvermist for fresh water to put in his lens, but he could work with what he had for a few more days.

He found Fairy Mary in the open workspace, checking on some of the larger Spring time items. "Fairy Mary," he greeted.

She turned around. "Hm? Oh hello, Phineas. What can I do for you?"

"Well if you have a minute, I'd like to ask you about something."

"Yes, go on dear."

"Well, it seems to me that everyone is avoiding me for some reason," he explained. "They've all been flying circles further from me since I went on that supply run last month."

Fairy Mary considered for a moment like she was trying to decide if she should tell him what was on her mind. "I heard about the incident between you and Dozer. I sent you off with Lucinda to have a word with him. I also told the other workers if any of them were to mistreat you, they'd be answering directly to me."

"You didn't need to do that." Phineas said, a little shocked. "It wasn't that big a deal."

"I know, dear." She sighed "I just want all my workers to be treated fairly. If anyone is having an attitude problem towards someone else, I take it upon myself to fix it and bring peace."

"I don't have a problem with Dozer." Phineas defended.

"I know you don't, Phineas, but…"

"And I don't think he has a problem with me." He interrupted.

"Yes, but,"

"What if I went with him on his next delivery to the Nature Fairies?" he asked quickly.

"Oh… Phineas, I don't know."

"It'll be fine, Fairy Mary. You'll see! Can I go with him? Please?" Phineas clasped his hands in front of his chest "There won't be any trouble."

Fairy Mary sighed. "Oh alright, you can go. But if he does or says anything,"

"He won't."

Fairy Mary smiled faintly "Well if you're sure."

Dozer's next delivery was the next afternoon. He and Phineas rode through Needlepoint Meadow toward the field where the Everblossom grew. All the Nature Talent fairies would be working on their preparations there.

Dozer was quiet the entire ride to the field, despite Phineas' best efforts. He tried several times to start a conversation, weather about Spring time prep, or about the other talents he had seen, though blurry, that had astounded him. But Dozer wasn't interested it seemed. He just steered the mouse to the field.

When they arrived, Dozer tried to get the attention of the Nature Fairies, but they all flittered around, not hearing him. He groaned "Sure would be nice if they would listen."

Phineas glanced towards Dozer, then up in the air where colorfully dressed fairies flittered about. He took a deep breath and stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud, shrill whistle.

The flittering all stopped, and Dozer looked at Phineas with shock, but Phineas didn't notice. He started calling out to those around. "Gather 'round Nature Talent Fairies! The newest supplies from Tinker's Nook are now available!"

They were soon being crowded by fairies of every talent. "Wow, Phineas. Way to take charge." A familiar southern accent.

"Hello, Miss Rosetta." He greeted with a smile.

"We have your sproutling baskets ready to go." Dozer said, unloading them from the wagon.

"Well thank you kindly, Dozer." Rosetta said, waving over more garden fairies to help carry the baskets.

"Hey Phineas!" Silvermist flew up with a yellow clad fairy next to her.

"Hello, Miss Silvermist. We've got acorn buckets for you and the water fairies." He turned to the cart to get one for her.

"Not those ones." Dozer said, pushing Phineas back. "That's ladybug paint for the Animal Fairies."

"Are you sure? I thought…" he shrunk back a little.

"I know what I'm doing. Just… go talk to your friends." Dozer shooed him off. "And you need Rainbow Tubes, right Sol?"

Phineas stepped back and rubbed his arm, feeling a bit useless. Rosetta looked at him and handed her basket off to someone else.

"You alright, sugar?" she asked.

"I don't know." Phineas sighed. "I keep trying to help, but I keep making mistakes apparently. That, and Dozer won't let me touch the supplies."

Rosetta smirked and gave a small chuckle. "Let me tell you a secret, hon. Dozer's always been a bit of a sour grape. I had a hard time getting used to him when I first got here. We Garden Fairies tend to ignore him. If it weren't for you getting all our attention, he'd still be fuming that he couldn't get anyone to stop and probably would have left the supplies for us to sort out. And as for your mistakes? You've only been here three months, silly! You've got plenty of time to get better and learn from them. You'll be just fine."

"Yeah!" Silvermist chimed in, startling Phineas. He hadn't noticed her come their way. "Besides, in the time you've been here, look what you've accomplished! I've never seen a Tinker as meticulous and determined as you besides Fairy Mary. You work hard despite having eye problems. And you made that seeing thingy! And you should know, we Nature Fairies, well Rosetta and me anyway, think you're Fairy Mary's favorite."

"That's right, sweetie. So don't worry about Dozer. You've got plenty of others who recognize your genius." Rosetta said, giving him a small hug.

Phineas chuckled, feeling a lot better. "Thank you both. I'll keep that in mind."

"No problem." Silvermist replied. "We'd better get going. Lots to do before we go to the mainland."

"Mainland?" Phineas said "What's the Mainland?"

"That's where we go and bring the seasons," Rosetta explained. "Didn't anyone tell you that when we changed to Winter?"

"Well, no." he shrugged "I just made snowflake baskets. No one said anything about the Mainland. What's it like?"

"Everything's huge!" Silvermist spread her arms wide "The seasons change all the time there. It's always so amazing every time I've been. The houses are gigantic. But I guess they have to be. That's where the humans live."

"Humans?" Phineas said "So then is that where we start out as well?"

"That's right." Rosetta chimed in. "All the little babies that our laughs came from are born on the mainland. So we go back there every season and bring our talents and beauty to their world"

"Amazing…" Phineas sighed. He was about to ask more, but Dozer called him back to the wagon. "I'll see you ladies later." They wished him goodbye as he flew back to Dozer and they made their way back to Tinker's Nook.

Phineas held his tongue on the return trip. He wanted to ask more about the mainland, but figured Dozer didn't want to talk to him at all. At least the delivery went well. Sure, Dozer still wasn't the kindest Tinker, but it's not like he yelled at Phineas for anything. Fairy Mary would be pleased to hear that.

As Phineas thought about all this, he heard a slight rustling in the grass. "What was that?"

"What?" Dozer asked. For once he didn't sound coarse. He actually sounded concerned. "What did you hear?"

"A rustling… in the grass" Phineas said "Is something in there?"

Dozer looked around, then flicked the reins. "Maybe." He finally replied. "Keep your guard up. And if I tell you to fly, then fly."

They kept going for a few feet, when suddenly something large cut across the path, startling the mouse. Dozer shouted "FLY!" and both Tinkers leapt from the wagon and flew up above the grass.

Phineas looked down to the wagon, seeing more of those strange things darting around as the poor mouse they'd abandoned squealed. Without thinking, Phineas shot back down to the carriage, Dozer yelling after him to come back. He landed on the back of the mouse and tugged at his harness. One of the scurrying things bumped the wagon and scraped against Phineas' shoulder, but it caused the hitch to break, freeing the mouse.

Phineas flew around it twice and grabbed the scruff of the mouse's neck. He pulled the mouse up with him. By now, there were fairies clad in purple helping him bring the mouse safely above the grass. He let out a sigh and scratched the mouse's ear, then Dozer grabbed his shoulder, making him wince.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded.

"I couldn't just leave him down there! Look what those things did to me!" he defended, gesturing at his hurt shoulder. "Imagine what they could have done to him!"

"That's why the Fast Fliers are here. _They_ were going to save the mouse!" Dozer shouted. " _You_ just got in the way again!"

"I wasn't in the way!" Phineas argued. "I was trying to help! What were _you_ doing?"

"I was keeping out of the way and letting the Fast Fliers do their job!"

"Enough!" one of the Fast Fliers cut in. "Look, Sprinting Thistles can be tricky. We're glad he was able to help, and it looks like your mouse is pretty happy too."

The mouse nuzzled against Phineas, who scratched his head. The Fast Flier turned to him "Keep in mind though, that those weeds are dangerous. Okay?"

"Okay…" Phineas sighed.

"You'd better get back to Tinker's Nook. We'll try and clear things up here."


	5. Stay Put

Fairy Mary was shocked to see them return with a flying mouse and no wagon. Phineas and Dozer explained (through more arguing) to her what happened with the Thistles. She was glad they were safe, but asked to speak to Phineas privately.

When Dozer had left, Fairy Mary turned to Phineas. "I don't want you working near him anymore." She said flatly. "I know you think everything is fine, but he clearly has something against you and I don't want you two to end up fighting over everything."

Phineas nodded. "I understand, Fairy Mary. I didn't realize how much he hated me, but I wasn't going to ask to work with him anymore."

"Good." Fairy Mary said. Phineas turned to leave "One more thing, Phineas." He turned around again "I also think it would be best if you stayed close to the work shop from now on."

He froze. "What? How come? Why can't I leave the workshop?" he demanded.

"I didn't say you couldn't leave." Fairy Mary said sternly. "Just to stay close by. It's only a precaution."

"A precaution for what?" Phineas asked, becoming more frantic.

"It's just because your sight is so poor," Fairy Mary explained "It's just safer for you to stay here."

"That's not fair!" Phineas shouted. "I do fine without my sight! I saved our mouse! I didn't need my sight for that! And I do my work load just fine! The delivery went well before the Sprinting Thistles chased us! And what about preparing for Spring? Am I banned from that too? Am I not allowed to go to the mainland now?"

"Phineas, that's enough!" Fairy Mary snapped, shutting Phineas up nicely. "First off, no. You're not going to the mainland. That has nothing to do with your sight. Tinkers don't go. Even if we did, what exactly would you do there? You can't bring your seeing contraption with you. And someone would have to keep track of you. Not everyone can juggle you and work like I can. So I need you here where I can watch you.

"I'd be more at peace knowing you were somewhere I know you're safe. I don't want something like _this_ happening again." She slapped his hurt shoulder and he winced. "You're lucky your little stunt earlier didn't get you seriously hurt or worse. So you'll do your Spring preparations here where you'll stay out of trouble!"

He couldn't find words. The anger had drained from him and was replaced with anguish. Silvermist had said he was Fairy Mary's favorite charge. He couldn't believe that now. After what she'd said, it felt more like he was a burden to her and everyone else in the workshop. She had been holding his hand through everything to keep him from making a mess of everything.

Fairy Mary realized how she came across a little too late. Phineas turned and ran from her. He was about to take flight when his foot caught on something on the ground. He tumbled forward into a spring loaded contraption one of the Tinkers was working on. It sprung, sending him flying with a shout into a load of baskets that a carrier pigeon had on its back. Startled, the pigeon took off and its load, with Phineas tangled inside, fell off its back. The tangled mess got caught on a tree branch, and Phineas finally jerked to a stop, dangling upside down, tangled in the ropes of the ruined delivery load.

He slowly opened his eyes at the sound of snickering. There were blurred figures of what seemed to be every worker in Tinker's Nook floating around him.

"That's a lovely little bobble hanging from the tree." Dozer's voice broke through the crowd. Phineas struggled to get his arms free.

"Maybe we should decorate all the trees in Pixie Hollow with bobbles like that." Another Tinker said. Phineas thought it might be Lucinda.

"No way." Dozer said, flying up next to Phineas. "This Bobble is one of a kind." He pushed Phineas and he started spinning.

"Stop!" Phineas cried. "Please stop!" The other Tinkers laughed. Some started jeering him, taking to calling him a bobble, others using it in place of his name.

"Bobble is such a useless Tinker."

"What good is a Tinker who can't see?"

"No wonder Fairy Mary has to hold Bobble's hand through everything. Look where it got him when he tried to fly alone."

"Bobble! Bobble! Bobble!"

He closed his eyes tightly, wishing this would stop. He struggled hard to get free. He was getting dizzy, but his head was spinning more from the humiliation.

The cruel laughter and teasing suddenly stopped and Phineas felt someone grab him gently, stopping the spin. He opened his eyes and saw Fairy Mary holding him steady as she untangled him.

"Is this how you treat your fellow Tinker?" she demanded, voice booming so all could hear. "We do not tease and torment someone for their mistakes. We are Tinkers. We fix things that go wrong. We do not laugh at someone who might be hurt." She got him loose and he floated for a moment. Fairy Mary looked like she wanted to say something, but he shrunk back from her and flew away as quickly as his wings would carry him. "Phineas!" she called after him, but he didn't stop.

Hurt and embarrassed, he flew over Pixie Hollow, not stopping for anyone who called to him. He found a hollow tree in the Autumn Forest and hid inside. He pulled his knees to his chest and let his wings droop. He lowered his head and let out a shaky breath. It was foolish of him to think he'd actually been favored by Fairy Mary. The other Tinkers were right. What good was a Tinker who couldn't see? He squeezed his eyes shut and felt the hot tears roll down his cheeks.


	6. Comforting Glow

It was dark when Phineas crawled out of the hollow tree. He shivered and rubbed his arms as he flew above the trees, but he couldn't tell where he was. In the darkness, everything looked the same. He started flying, but wasn't sure if he was heading towards Tinker's Nook or not.

He spotted a golden glow in the trees and decided that would be the best place for him to rest. He quickly realized he was approaching the Pixie Dust Tree. That was just fine. It would probably be the safest place in Pixie Hollow. He could stay there for the night and find his way home when the sun came up.

He landed by the bright pool of Dust and lay down on his side. He was still very upset, but he was determined not to cry anymore. He especially didn't want to cry out here where someone could easily find him. It was late enough, however, that chances were high that everyone was already asleep. Exhausted, Phineas curled up and tried to fall asleep himself.

He was startled when a warm, soft hand rested on his arm. He sat up quickly to see the same bright glowing fairy who had given him flight.

"Queen Clarion." He breathed. "I… um…"

She chuckled. "Hello, Phineas. I'm surprised to see you here."

"Oh." He sighed. "I, um. I can't find my way home in the dark."

"I see." Queen Clarion said with a tone of understanding "Well then, feel free to rest here then."

"Thank you, my Queen." Phineas didn't lie back down, but instead stared at the pool of Dust.

"Something on your mind?"

He looked up at Queen Clarion again "I'm the most useless Tiinker in all of Pixie Hollow."

"Really now?" she said "What makes you say that?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I mess everything up." He explained. "I bump into everything. I hand out the wrong supplies, and just today I crashed into a load of baskets and destroyed them."

"Sounds to me like you've had a bit of bad luck." Queen Clarion said.

"Luck has nothing to do with it." Phineas sighed. "What good is a Tinker who can't see?"

"Can't see?" Clarion repeated.

"My vision is terrible. Everyone knows it." Phineas said

"That doesn't mean you can't see." She debated "You could see well enough to find your way here."

"Yes, but,"

"And you could see well enough to save your mouse friend today."

"How did you -?"

"And," she said firmly "You could see well enough to find your talent."

Phineas sighed again. He wanted to point out that he probably wouldn't have needed to see to make a hammer glow, but he held his tongue.

"It sounds to me like you're letting what others say get to you. Fairy Mary tells me you're the best Tinker she's seen in a long time." Queen Clarion said. "Not because you do good work, but because you figure out how to do good work despite not being able to see well. That's the real meaning behind being a Tinker, being able to figure out how to solve any problem no matter what stands in your way."

He looked back to the Dust pool. "She really said that about me?"

"Yes." Clarion replied. "She has very high opinions of you."

Not anymore, Phineas thought. "But she said she had to juggle her work and her time with me. The other Tinkers say she has to hold my hand in everything I do" he paused, feeling himself choke up again. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I know… I hear them whisper about it."

"She's always been incredibly busy. That's how she is. She takes time out to work with you because she wants to help you reach your full potential. She sees how talented you are and wants to help you grow and flourish. But since she's in charge of everyone, and has to make sure everyone stays on task, I'd imagine her time is precious, so it makes sense that she would get frustrated every once in a while. I'm sure she didn't mean to come off so harsh."

Phineas stayed quiet, still staring at the golden Dust pool. Clarion stared at him. She wondered about the other Tinkers in his guild and if they really felt like Phineas was as much as a burden as he felt he was.

"Hve you bonded with anyone else in your Talent Guild?" she asked

"Hmm?" he looked up at her. "No, why?"

"Fairies tend to be drawn closer to those most important to them. Like you and Fairy Mary, or Rosetta and Silvermist. I'm just curious if…" her thought was cut off by a distant giggle.

"If what?" Phineas urged her to continue.

"Perhaps the reason why you haven't gotten close to very many people yet because they have yet to arrive in Pixie Hollow." She said. "They'll be here someday. They'll find their way to you."

Phineas wasn't sure if he understood, but he heard the distant giggle again, followed by someone calling his name. A moment later, Fairy Mary flew over the Dust pool and saw him.

"Phineas! There you are!" she flew to him and threw her arms around him. "I was so worried about you! Are you alright?"

He smiled faintly "I'm alright." He assured her.

"That one is going to Winter" Queen Clarion said wistfully.

"I'm sorry?" Phineas turned back to the Queen.

"A new Winter Fairy has been born." She said, staring off into the distance. She turned her attention back to Phineas. "From now on, I would like you to come here for each new arrival."

"I… how come?" Phineas was very confused.

"Hopefully who you belong with will show up before too long." Queen Clarion said. "Fairy Mary, you'll make sure he's here?"

"Of course, Queen Clarion." She replied. She didn't understand what Queen Clarion was thinking either, but if the Queen wanted Phineas to witness the new arrivals, then she would make sure he'd be there.

"Good." She lay a hand on Phineas' shoulder, "Things will get better soon. I'm sure of it." And she disappeared in a flash of light.

Phineas blinked from the brightness, then turned to Fairy Mary. "I'm sorry." He said quietly. She helped him to his feet and he was about to say more, but she stopped him.

"You have nothing to apologize for." She said. She took his hand and led him home where he lay thinking about the Queen's words. He hoped her words were true. He fell asleep with that hope in his heart that things would get better soon.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading this. If you enjoyed it, the story continues with "The Other Half"**


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